LC049: How to Name Your Startup

launchpeer - August 2, 2018 - 0 comments

Today’s question:

Today’s question comes from Paul. I’ve spent a few days thinking of every name imaginable for my business that I’m starting. How do you come up with a unique business name? Do you go with something generic or something that is specific to what the product or service does?

Jake’s answer:

It can be frustrating coming up with a name for your startup. The first thing I do when I have a new idea for a business is try to think of a name, so I know how you’re feeling.

Obvious or Ambiguous?

The first thing to discuss is: should you pick out a name that’s obvious or should you pick one that’s ambiguous that gives you room to change things up.

We generally recommend coming up with an obvious name first. LaunchPeer is a good example of this. It doesn’t scream out development for startups or growth hacking for startups, but when put together those two words embody everything we are doing here.

The name should resonate right away with users. There are so many companies out there now (red ocean strategy) that your name has to give users a clear understanding of what you are doing so that you can stand out from the crowd.

The average person online sees over 50 ads per day and the odds of you needing to leverage that type of traffic early on is high. So you want to make your job as easy as possible to get traction and having an easy to understand name is important.

The Benefits of an Ambiguous Name

Companies like Amazon and Google were able to get into many different businesses because their names were gave them flexibility. The problems that you are trying to solve aren’t going to change much so the odds that you’ll need to change your name to fit your business as it evolves is pretty low. The other benefit to an ambiguous name is that it is much easier to find a name that hasn’t been taken or isn’t being squatted on by domain buyers.

The best thing you can do is test your name options with friends and family to see what resonates with them. Your name and logo are the first things that potential customers will see, so it must resonate with them.